When the container is created, the work area and workspace share the same origin, (0,0). If the application requires that the work area and the workspace have different origins, the application can use the ptlOrigin field of the CNRINFO data structure and the CM_SETCNRINFO message to set the origin of the work area. The application can use the CM_QUERYCNRINFO and CM_SETCNRINFO messages to obtain the origin when the user ends the application and to reset the origins when the user restarts the application.

Container items are located in reference to the workspace origin. There is a visual shift as the work area is scrolled; however, because the work area moves over a fixed workspace, the coordinates of the container items do not change.